Free nursery milk: your thoughts?

Yogurt is a much better source of calcium than milk (if you like dairy ) and less disgusting when warm.

I still have nightmares about the ghastly warm horrible milk we had at school. My DC's didn't drink any milk past the toddler stage. Water or diluted juice. I think the money could probably be better spent on something else. Don't like the idea of means testing either.

Justvrealised it is opt in - I remember filling in the form now

Yes, exactly, just a debate on why milk would be good. I agree fruit is not filling - although maybe a banana

I have worked in a nursery and the milk is wasted - by the kids i.e they pour it then don't drink it. And far too much is provided much more than they need - the cartons are too big for littlies.

It ends up going home with the staff! Or I have heard from a member of staff that when she worked at another nursery the milk was taken to the care home also owned by the nursery owner!

Very often the milk is served 1-1 1/2 hours after a big school dinner, 1 hour before home time where they eat the packet of sweets/ crisps / icecream that Mum brings for the way home!

My kids ditched milk in an afternoon before they got to 12 months. My 6 year old has opted out at school.

It will be political suicide though to get rid of it though!
If they need to do something they should tackle the cost 90 odd pence a pint is ridiculous! Give out vouchers like the Healthy Start Vouchers so nurseries can get cheaper milk and put a cap on the price.

It is obviously big business as I have recently set up as a childminder and I have had the milk rep ring me to supply me!!!

I would say suggest milk is not the best supplement to a child's diet, fruit and vegs, would be better. Or spend the money on breast feeding support, here in London Haringey they recently made all bar 1 bf support worker redundant. But the bets obviously that government would never reallocate so sensibly so in which case the milk money must stay to help give a reason for mums to go into centres, where maybe they may get help.

Thanks for backing me up Sossiges - knew I was right as I'd investigated for niece who hates all thinks milk-related with a vengeance!

Those saying fruit instead of milk. Fruit isn't that high in calories and it's very sugary. Not a great snack for a small kid IMO. I say this as someone who's DS doesn't drink milk. I'd rather give a yoghurt than an apple. An apple does nothing for hunger.

DS can't have free milk as he's intolerant. Do they offer a dairy and soya free alternative?

I really do not think means testing or removing universality is the way to go. It costs money and introduces a stigma which is horrible IMO (I speak as someone who came from a single parent, low income household who got free meals. I remember my free milk at school when I was young, before Thatcher stole it. I'm only 30 so I must have been young but it stuck out as not freely available at home).

Why doesn't the government set about reducing the cost of childcare so parents have more money in their pocket? Or improve nutrition in educational settings instead our kids being fed crap made by private companies keen on making a profit?

My DS is at the School nursery and he gets a carton of milk from wiseman dairies a day, Some days he drinks it, others he doesn't, some days he'll say he had two!

On a friday, they put a box in the cloakroom with all the remaining weeks milk for kids to take some home, and there is always a load.

I do think kids should get it provided, but again, i wouldn't mind paying a little for it.

At his nursery just now, we pay £1 a week snack money, this provides them with fruit, cheddars, yoghurts, or whatever the staff provide (we've had pittas, chinese noodles and porridge too :) ), throughout the week, i'm happy with this set up and wouldn't mind paying a little extra for the milk too.

zzzzz FYI some leafy greens are an excellent source of calcium (as opposed to cow's milk, which is just "very good") and sardines are a good source of calcium if you eat the bones, which most people do :P

And if they didn't provide it at all I'd be happy with that.

Fwiw I've never even heard of the scheme and have two under 5

I would rather they provide fruit to be honest. As spb says what is the actual benefit of milk against, say, fruit. Less likely to be allergic to fruit for a start.

We have milk delivered to our nursery. The LEA organise it and I have to fill in a return to show how many children we have so that we only get milk for that number of children. It's not a case of Nurseries getting away with anything, school based nurseries will have their milk organised by the LEA. We are hardly popping off on holiday having scammed some extra money for milk!

I didn't even know they got free milk. I don't think DS who goes to nursery half a week has ever had any.

92p a pint is outrageous. How are nurseries getting away with claiming that? Surely buying in bulk is cheaper?

Either make it universal based on age, capped and vouchered or scrap it.

I would like to say "use the money saved to go towards reducing childcare costs, reinstating Bookstart or increasing tax credits for those on low incomes". But I know there's no point. Once it's gone, it's gone with this government.

tbh my child would not really miss the free milk if it wasnt provided, because i give him milk at home anyway so if they are buying it at such an increased price then whats the point, seems a bit wasteful for the government to do this if thats the case, although i understand some children wouldnt get it at home and so would not want them to miss out.

im not sure my ds nursery gives them free milk every day anyway, is it supposed to be every day? they seem to get it only every few weeks as far as i know - hes in a school nursery class

so why not free school milk on an opt in basis?

I can see the sense in free school milk in an educational nursery setting. However the free milk scheme has got out of control.

Why should a child in day nursery or childminder who is under the age of three get free milk when a child with a stay at home mother doesn't get free milk. Especially as families with two working parents can afford the free milk easily.

I would like it so that all children between the age of three and five got free milk. Prehaps two year olds who get their 15 hours of nursery funded should get free milk as well.

I also have suspication with child minders and day nurseries that the free milk doesn't always get drunk by the child. Would the money be better spent on free fruit and veg? Childcare providers would then have no excuse for serving up shit.

Getting rid of milk was the best thing Margaret Thatcher did. God knows why it came back. Hideous - congealed and stored on the warm radiator in my primary school days - bleeeghhhh. But DD gets it at her nursery and won't drink it. Her teacher said only about half the children will drink it and most is wasted. The children who get free school meals are no more likely to drink it either. She feels a carton of orange juice would be more useful and acceptable by the children. A waste of money I think.

Working in a pre-school I would hate to lose the universality of the free milk. Finances are tight and if we had to make up the shortfall it would mean the children sacrificing something else and it just wouldn't work to let some children have it but not others.

I wonder how much of the free milk to under fives gets wasted? DD has never been keen on drinking milk and I'm pretty sure that although we filled in the forms (in Nursery) to opt into the free school milk, she probably didn't have it 70% of the time. She was keen to continue having it when we would have had to pay for the privilege , because some of her much younger classmates were still getting their free milk, but we knew it would be money down the drain and recently she admitted that she wouldn't have drunk it anyway!

For everyone or no one is my immediate gut reaction. Some families feel the stigma of free school meals already so to have to claim an entitlement to free milk for their under 5's too isn't fair.